The New Recruit
by Glass Vial
Summary: AU, taking place three months after the events of "Exit Wounds" and "Journey's End". The remaining members of Torchwood are reluctantly looking for new team members, and Jack has someone particular in mind...
1. Entry 00: First Contact

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing except for the character of Lauren and the plot line. And the writing from the attachment was taken from the 'Torchwood Mission' game over on /torchwood.

**Spoilers:** Everything, right up to the end of season 2.

**A/N: **This story takes place three months after the events of _"Exit Wounds"_, and discounting everything that came afterwards. The remaining members of Torchwood are reluctantly looking for new team members, and Jack has someone particular in mind. They can only bring themselves to recruit one person - not a replacement for Tosh or Owen, just someone to keep the numbers up. But when a somewhat unwanted acquaintance shows up, it turns out that what Jack, Gwen and Ianto thought they knew was wrong. Very, very wrong.

* * *

Lauren Valentine opened her email inbox, expecting to be faced with a pile of useless spam and a junk folder full to bursting. She scanned the new emails - one from her sister, one from work . . . And, oddly one from a withheld address. This kind of thing usually went in the junk folder. She was about to delete it when that annoyingly curious part of her brain made the mouse click open instead. She frowned as she read the subject - 'Recruitment - Seriously, read it.'

**_Hello._**

**_Just wondering, have you seen anything like this before? Because I was kind of counting on you having contacted us by now. Reply to this soon, please._**

**_Regards, _**

**_Captain Jack Harkness._**

There was an attachment - _why_ hadn't she noticed it before? God, she needed to pay more attention. She clicked on it, and up popped what was best described as the digital equivalent of a leaflet. She'd seen one copy of it before, in paper form, littering the Bay.

**_The Torchwood Institute currently has vacancies for Freelance Operatives to help us in our line of the most impressive candidates need apply. Ability to cope under pressure is a experience is not essential. No agencies please. If you wish to join Torchwood, apply now._**

She was intrigued - seriously, seriously intrigued. So she replied. Her fingers flew across the keys as she typed.

**'_Captain__'__ Harkness,_**

**_In answer to your question, yes I__'__ve seen that before. I thought it was a joke. If you__'__re serious, I__'__d be delighted to meet you to discuss this __'__recruitment__'__ - perhaps over a drink?_**

**_- Lauren._**

There was a reply in her inbox less than a minute later. This 'Captain' had dropped the formality pretty quickly, and the address was no longer withheld.

**_Lauren, _**

**_I__'__m serious. And I would love to discuss this over a drink. How does Bar Reunion at eight sound?_**

**_- Jack_**

She was going for a drink with someone she'd met less than ten minutes ago over email - boy, did _this_ scream ITV weeknight drama.

**_Jack,_**

**_It sounds great. I__'__ll wait for you by the door - just keep an eye out for a girl with bright red hair._**

**_- Lauren._**

ITV drama or not, it wasn't like if he did turn out to be a creep she'd have any trouble getting rid of him. And Bar Reunion wasn't exactly going to be a ghost town - it might be a Thursday night, but that never mattered to the regulars.

**_Lauren,_**

**_Red hair? Hmm, someone has a rebellious streak. You__'__ll fit in well around here. I__'__ll be the guy in the WWII coat._**

**_- Jack._**


	2. Entry 01: Bar Reunion

At 8.05pm on a cold Thursday in January, Lauren stood outside Bar Reunion in Cardiff city centre. She was waiting for a man who she'd only spoken to once -– via email, earlier that day -– who wanted to offer her a job. Just as she was about to give up and go inside to wallow in the fact that she'd been stood up by buying a good strong drink, someone said her name.

"Miss Valentine, I presume." She was surprised to hear an American voice. "You weren't kidding about the hair." She turned around.

"Jack Harkness?"

"That's _Captain _Jack Harkness." He said firmly.

"Not big-headed at all, then." She teased.

His only acknowledgement of her teasing was a small smirk. "Would you like a drink?"

"I thought you'd never ask."

He whisked her inside, and before she knew it they were sat in a secluded corner of the bar with their drinks. Jack got straight to the point.

"Can I ask you something, Lauren?"

"Go ahead." There was something about the way he was looking at her that unnerved her slightly.

"How open are you to the whole 'aliens and the supernatural' thing?"

She almost choked on her drink, but then she realised how serious he was. "Is it important?"

"Well," Jack watched her closely. "Yes."

". . . Pretty open, I guess." She looked confused, and he leant forwards over the table between them.

"Good. We've been trying to recruit someone for three months, and we're getting absolutely nowhere if I'm honest." He talked quickly, keeping his voice low. "That's why I resorted to contacting you personally. Normally we like to be inconspicuous about these things but we're pretty desperate and most people just think we're joking anyway."

"Okay. And what makes you think I don't?" Lauren asked him bluntly, causing him to be momentarily silent.

"Promise me you won't freak out."

"I . . . Promise?" She couldn't keep that upward, questioning inflection out of her voice.

"Good. Okay, Lauren, I've learnt things about you. You're education, your career, your family."

"Prove it." She became defensive, more than slightly freaked out.

"You've moved here from London four years ago to get away from your parents. You were trained to use a gun by your cousin when you were sixteen, in a field. You've been trying to find a decent job for months, and failing miserably."

"What the hell is this?" She made to stand up, but he grabbed her arm.

"You promised not to freak out." He reminded her, gently. "What if I told you I had the perfect job for you? At least come and check the position out?"

She stared at him - this strange man who was far too good looking and charming to not be an actor. But here he was, asking her to join . . . What was it on the leaflet? The Torchwood Institute? And all she knew was that apparently that had something to do with aliens.

"All right, I'll come."

"This is . . ." Lauren was speechless as Jack lead her towards Roald Dahl Plass.

"Yeah, I know. We blend in to the scenery. Inconspicuous, like I said." He mentally reminded himself that they'd thrown being 'inconspicuous' out of the window the minute Ianto had made that advert.

"And you call a fountain in the middle of Cardiff Bay inconspicuous?" She asked incredulously.

"People are used to it. Besides, you'll see why we blend in." He linked his arm through hers and made sure she was stood on the paving stone. She gasped and clung onto him as they started to sink down. "Don't worry, it's perfectly normal." He laughed.

"You're underground, that's how you blend in." She realised.

"Well done. Lauren Valentine, welcome to Torchwood Three." Jack smiled. "Guys, come and say hello!" He called, and Gwen appeared.

"Hello!" She beamed at Lauren. She'd been a little apprehensive about this whole situation, but as usual Jack had managed to persuade her to give the possible new recruit he'd found a chance. So here she was, giving her a chance.

"Hi . . ." Lauren replied, taking in the Hub.

"Lauren, meet Gwen Cooper, ex-police constable. I'll go find Ianto while you ladies get acquainted." He left Gwen and Lauren chatting, and went to Ianto's office.

"Hello Jack." Ianto glanced up from the computer screen.

"What have I told you about hiding in here?" Jack gave him a look. "I want you to come and -"

"I know, I know, meet the new girl." He sighed. "Yet another pretty little thing for you to oggle, no doubt."

"Ianto, you know you're the only pretty little thing worth oggling around here." Jack teased him as he stood up.


	3. Entry 02: Torchwood Three

"What if she doesn't want the job?" Ianto asked quietly as they left the office.

"Retcon. Simple as." Jack replied.

"But . . . What about UNIT?" He reminded him of exactly _why_ he'd ended up contacting Lauren himself.

"Oh . . ." Jack grimaced slightly. "Right. _That_ may present a slight problem."

"Care to share, you two?" Gwen called over.

"Lauren, this is Ianto Jones - makes the best coffee this side of the Rift, amongst other things." Jack ignored Gwen's question.

"The Rift?" Lauren raised an eyebrow.

"You didn't even explain that to her?" Ianto sighed.

"Again, what?" Lauren prompted.

"Ohh dear, you'd better sit down." Jack admitted, indicating a chair. He proceeded to explain about the Rift at top speed, and she was still confused when he stopped talking.

"I'll tell you that in English later." Ianto promised.

"Hey, sometimes a little techno babble is good!" Jack protested.

"Not when it's coming from you."

"You babble enough _without_ having any 'techno' involved." Gwen chipped in.

"Enough, you two." Jack glared at them.

"I suppose you haven't explained about . . .?" Ianto couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence.

"You mean why we're attempting to recruit her?" Jack sighed, and Gwen and Ianto exchanged a look. "This job is dangerous, Lauren. And I don't mean the 'oh, I might find out something I shouldn't' dangerous, I mean 'oh, I might get shot' dangerous. When Gwen came here there was a woman working with us called Suzie Costello. She went mad, basically, and I ended up having to shoot her before she killed Gwen."

Lauren's expression was surprisingly calm, so he continued.

"And up until three months ago we had two agents - Toshiko Sato and Doctor Owen Harper. They're both dead, and God knows the three of us would've done anything we could to save them. But we didn't. And it's not safe for just three of us to go around fighting the things that come through the Rift. That's where you come in."

"So this is a 'putting my life in your hands' kind of job?" She asked him.

"Best way of putting it I've heard." Gwen muttered.

"All right." The three of them looked at her, shocked.

"All right? You mean you'll do it?" Jack sounded eager.

"Yes. I know fuck-all about it, but what the hell. You're right, Jack. I do need a job."


	4. Entry 03: Rift Activity

Ianto made them all coffee, and Lauren commented that Jack had been right, it _was_ the best coffee she'd ever had. Gwen was her naturally welcoming self, but she and her two colleagues still felt strange having a new agent with them. They'd been saying since Owen and Tosh had died that when and if they recruited someone else they would _not_ be replacing their friends. Whoever the new person was would have their own place in the team, and wouldn't be expected to fill the gaps left behind. However, Lauren herself was having her own doubts about this. She could tell how close the team had been, and felt almost as though she was intruding. But, after all, Jack himself had been insistent on recruiting her so they would all have to wait and see. And they wouldn't have to wait very long.

"What's that noise?" Lauren looked up as a loud beeping noise escaped one of the computers.

"It's . . ." Jack looked over at it casually, but quickly sprang to his feet. "Bad."

"How bad is bad?" Gwen stood up, ready to run to the jeep.

"Rift activity - _big_ Rift activity." Ianto was reading the scrolling information on the screen. "Over in the Millennium Centre, so we won't need the jeep for once."

"Right on our doorstep. That's either someone really stupid, or it means someone wants us to find them." Jack was walking off to get a gun. "Looks like we'll get to see what you're made of Lauren!" He called back.

"I bet you're thrilled." Ianto gave her a brief, sympathetic pat on the shoulder as he grabbed his coat.

Once they were fully kitted out - Lauren secretly thrilled by the fact Jack had given her a weapon without any hesitation - they headed out of the Hub through the 'civilian' entrance.

"Ah, Cardiff at night." Jack grinned as he made his way across to the doors of the Millennium Centre.

"Jack, there's a function in there tonight." Gwen reminded him. "Something to do with the council or the mayor, I think?"

"Good job we've got a great big pile of Retcon in the Hub." Ianto muttered darkly.

Lauren matched Gwen's pace, and they exchanged a tentative smile.

"Excited?" Gwen asked.

"More like mildly terrified." Lauren admitted.

"Don't worry - if Jack thinks you can handle it, you can handle it."

They got in with no trouble, all it took was a quick flash of Jack's ID to the security guard and they were allowed through. Although, knowing Jack he'd probably managed to find an ID card that said he was a member of the catering crew or something equally as bizarre and untrue. Gwen had been right - there was some charity function going on, but they found that the traces of Rift activity were coming from the lower levels. When they got down there the signal on the Rift-Detector went haywire, claiming to be sensing things, conveniently, in four different directions.

"Ah." Ianto sighed as he realised that.

"I knew it was a good idea finding you tonight, Lauren." Jack nudged her. "Right, Gwen you go west, Ianto south, Lauren east. I'll go north. We'll keep in touch via the headsets and -"

"You're forgetting something." Ianto pointed to Lauren - specifically, to her headset-less ear.

"Yes, yes I am Ianto. Did you remember to bring one for her?" Jack raised an eyebrow, ready to be proved right.

But Ianto reached into his pocket and pulled a headset out, handing it to Lauren. "It works just like the Bluetooth headsets you put on your phone. It means we can hear you and you can hear us. All the time." He explained as she put it on.

"At least one of you men is organised." Gwen laughed.

"Time to split up, I think." Jack said firmly, and they all went off in their respective directions.

'_Anyone found anything yet?' _Jack's voice came over Lauren's headset.

'_No.' _Ianto replied.

'_Same here, Jack.' _Gwen agreed.

"I'm with them." She said quietly as she walked along a dark corridor. "Is it stupidly dark where you all are, too?"

'_If by stupidly dark you mean pitch black, then yes.' _Surprisingly Ianto's comment reassured her. His next one, however, didn't. _'Picking up a _huge_ amount of Rift activity in your direction, Lauren.'_

"You sure?" She tried not to sound nervous.

'_You'll be fine, Lauren.' _Jack interrupted. _'Shoot to stun, then we'll come help you if you need it.'_

'_Does the same apply for everyone?' _Gwen checked.

'_Sure does.'_

"I think there's something down here." Lauren saw something move out of the corner of her eye.

'_I'll turn the volume down on yours while you find out what it is.' _Ianto told her.

"If you're sure." She heard a faint click, and the headset was silent. All she could hear was her own footsteps on the concrete floor. If there _was_ anything down there it would know she was coming. _Torch would've been useful, Jack,_ she thought. There was an intense feeling of dread coursing through her body, which made it especially difficult to keep the gun steady.

"Oh because you're so intimidating." At least she wasn't dealing with one of the aliens Jack had told her about. She could tell now that whoever it was was distinctly human, and male. "Little girl with a gun. Bet you don't even know how to use it, do you?"

"I wouldn't be so sure if I was you." She was surprised to find that she sounded confident.

"Feisty one, are you?" The man sounded amused. "Well I'd like to see how confident you are when you're blasted into tiny little pieces like every other moron in this building." And then she noticed the red light - pulsing on and off, on and off. It was making a beeping noise. It was a bomb.

"Shit."

'_Lauren? What is it?' _It was Jack. Quiet, but definitely there.

"We've got a bomb, Jack."

'_Hold on, we'll be there in two minutes. Keep him talking.'_

"You don't want to do that." She told the shadowed figure. "The whole building? Bit 'I'm a comic book super villain', isn't it? Why not . . . Why not just go for the room above our heads?" _What? God I'm crap at this._

"Just that room?"_Bloody hell, is he actually considering it?_ She saw his hand twist something on the bomb.

"There. Lowered the range. You're a smart one, you are. No point murdering people if there aren't any witnesses left to tell the tale, is there?" She didn't answer, trying to get a good enough grip on the gun to shoot.

The beeping got faster.

Lauren tightened her grip on the trigger.

'_Keep going, Lauren, we're close.' _Jack sounded like he was running. She pulled the trigger, and with a yell the man collapsed to the floor. The bomb clattered down onto the concrete, but the beeping didn't stop.

_Oh God, I'm gonna die. First day on my new job and I'm gonna get blown up inside Cardiff Millennium Centre._ She was about to close her eyes when something sparked on the panel on the bomb, and whoever was now stood over it ran and pushed her to the ground about three feet from where she had been standing. They used their body to protect her from the blast.

"Good job I got here when I did." She had expected to hear Jack's voice, or Gwen or Ianto's, but whoever was lying on top of her had a distinct cockney accent. "You all right?"


	5. Entry 04: Dr Harper

Jack was only half paying attention to what he could hear over the headset. He could hear Ianto and Gwen breathing, and Lauren having a conversation with whatever it was she'd found. It was the conversation he was paying attention to - he could only really hear her side of it, but he wasn't going to let anything happen to another member of his team. He heard a faint beeping noise and looked around him. That's when he realised that it was coming from the headset.

'_Shit.'_ That worried him.

"Lauren? What is it?"

'_We've got a bomb, Jack.'_ Lauren's voice came over his headset.

_Shit is right. _He thought. _If this goes wrong we've got no chance - how do you cover up the Millennium Centre getting blown up? _"Hold on, we'll be there in two minutes. Keep him talking." He told her, starting to run back in the direction he'd come.

He could tell Gwen and Ianto were doing the same from the fact that their breathing had sped up. Lauren was trying to negotiate with the potential bomber, and it sounded like she was doing well. He heard the beeping get faster, and her breath catch in her throat.

"Keep going, Lauren, we're close." He promised as he met Gwen and Ianto back where they'd started. They didn't need headsets to hear the gun go off. The sound echoed down the corridors.

"Jack, this is bad." Gwen glanced across at him.

"Yeah, I know, Gwen." He gritted his teeth. "But that was her gun. Means we can get there and disable the bomb before it goes off." There was a loud bang, and an orange light flared up in front of them. "Lot smaller than I anticipated . . ." There was a crackling sound in their ears.

"She's been disconnected." Ianto grimaced. "Never good. Never, _ever_ good." Less than thirty seconds later they saw her standing in the corridor, with a man stood next to her. Beyond the two figures was the remains of the end of the corridor, burning.

"Lauren, are you -" Gwen stopped. Because in the light of the burning corridor she could see the features of the man stood next to Torchwood's newest recruit. "Oh, my God."

Lauren looked up at the man who'd saved her. Brown hair, brown eyes, average height . He was looking down at her, an expectant look on his face. She remembered that he'd actually asked her a question.

"I am. Thanks to you." He stood up, and held out a hand to help her to her feet. "Thank you."

"So what's your name, love?" He held her eye contact as he spoke.

"Lauren. Lauren Valentine." She told him.

"Pretty name for a pretty girl." He laughed quietly. "I'm -" Before he could finish his sentence, Jack and the others came running.

"Lauren are you -" She saw her three new colleagues stop in their tracks. "Oh my God."

"You replaced me with a girl." Her rescuer turned to face them, glaring. "A girl."

"You're Owen." Lauren realised, eyes wide. He glanced back at her.

"You've heard of me?"

"Owen." Gwen looked like she was about to start crying. "But you . . . How?" Jack and Ianto stared, as close to open-mouthed as the two of them were likely to get.

"The Rift. It pulled me out just before the radiation . . . Yeah. I never believed it was gonna do something good eventually." He waited for them to register that, then his expression softened and he held his arms out. "C'mere, darlin'." Gwen ran and hugged him.

"This is unbelievable." She muttered.

"Tell me about it."

"And it took you three months to get out of there?" Jack asked him.

"Yes. Well, more or less. I've been back here for maybe a week, now."

"Why didn't you find us or . . . Or _something_?" Gwen hit him on the shoulder.

"What can I say? I'm a twat. I wasn't sure what to say, to be honest. 'Hi guys, I'm not dead! Can I get back to work now?' doesn't really have the best ring to it." As soon as Gwen let go of Owen, Jack engulfed him in a bear hug. "Oi, watch it!"

"You're an idiot. But you're our idiot." The Captain let him go. Owen looked over at Ianto.

"You too, Coffee Boy." They hugged, slightly more awkwardly than the other two had. "So," He looked at the three of them expectantly. "Where's my favourite computer genius?"

Lauren watched their expressions change. Gwen's eyes filled with tears, and she looked away from Owen. Ianto bowed his head, avoiding his eyes, and Jack's eyes took on a look of reluctance. They were all silent for what must have been at least a minute, and Owen narrowed his eyes warily.

"Oh, God." Gwen whispered.

"Jack?" He was the only one still meeting Owen's eyes. "What's going on? What happened?"

"You were talking to her, on the comm," The Captain hesitated. "Before the radiation hit, didn't you? You know she was . . . Hurt?"

"Yeah, but . . . But it was just her arm, wasn't it?" No one answered him. He wasn't sure he wanted them to - wasn't sure he wanted to hear it.

"When we found her . . ."

"No." The doctor shook his head, definitely sure that he didn't want to hear it.

"Grey. He shot her in the stomach. When we found her she . . . She'd lost a lot of blood, Owen." Jack told him gently.

It was evident from the look on his face that he hadn't wanted to have to tell this story again. Especially not to Owen.


End file.
